Wherever there is a product from Google on the web platform, SEO must work. It is not an exaggeration to say that now YouTube has become a search engine for video content. YouTube is a product that, if we think about it logically, has now become a free university for anyone who has access to the international internet.
In this article, we intend to review YouTube SEO solutions, that is, ways to optimize the content of channels for search engines.
If you have even uploaded a video to YouTube or plan to do so, I suggest you read this article to the end.
Table of Contents
YouTube SEO solutions
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is one of the best methods to improve the ranking of the site on the search results page, which ultimately helps to increase the rate of users entering the site and, as a result, more visibility of its content.
Scientific SEO is based on experience. This means that in addition to sufficient knowledge, trial and error and gaining experience is also an important factor in order to obtain the desired result in SEO. In addition, there are many tools that make the SEO path smoother.
YouTube SEO is the same. Video optimization on a platform like YouTube is one of the methods of video marketing. In this article, after introducing effective solutions in YouTube SEO, we will also introduce its useful tools.
Name the video file with the target keyword
One of the main principles of Google for displaying content in search to users is the keyword or phrase that the user is searching for. Since YouTube cannot recognize the topic of the video and its content, Google robots must use some methods to understand this issue.
One of these methods is to use a keyword in the name of the video file.
For example, if the name of your video is (business_ad_003FINAL.mov), I suggest you change it to the keyword you want. For example, change the file name of the apple cake tutorial video to (Baking apple cake).
Appropriate title and use of keywords
Almost no one can deny the role of the title of the content and its importance in attracting the user and ranking the content in the search engine. YouTube is no different from website pages, however, you have to give your content to the user with the right title.
The most basic discussion in choosing titles is the use of keywords in the title. Research has shown that videos whose title is written using a keyword have better ranking and more clicks. The reason for that is clear, the user will encounter exactly what he searched for, of course, provided that you have chosen the right keyword. For this reason, we emphasize that the title must be accurate and appropriate.
Considering that YouTube has a character limit for displaying titles, try not to use more than 20 characters in the video title so that the text is displayed in full.
Optimize video descriptions
Video descriptions play an essential role in guiding and ranking content in search on most platforms, but not YouTube.
Basically, according to its content strategy, YouTube does not give much importance to the text. YouTube has the ability to add 1000 words of text for each video, but the studies show that these texts did not have a special effect on the SEO of the videos, even with keyword optimization.
However, it is suggested to add your description below the video in the range of 300 to 500 characters. This has no effect on video SEO, but is useful for in-app offers, especially after videos end or for displaying similar content.
According to the reviews and the rules of YouTube, which does not show more than 100 words of description to the user in the initial display, I suggest that you implement the call-to-action sentences or CTA in the video and do not bring the methods of communication with the user in the text description.
Increase the range of visits using tags
YouTube requires content channels to use tags for each video so that users can understand the topic of the video. With this work, YouTube itself realizes the topic of the video and displays videos to users on similar keywords. If you are careful and use appropriate phrases close to the user’s search for the tag, YouTube offers more and, as a result, the range of video views will increase.
You may think that the more tags are in your favor, but YouTube has also warned that the channel and its content will be fined if it is proven that tags are used inappropriately and excessively.
Increase reach with hashtags
Recently, YouTube has added hashtags to its program space. A change that increases user access to your videos. Of course, provided that you also use the hashtag. Just like LinkedIn or Instagram, the user could access the content of that category by searching for the desired hashtag. Here you can also hashtag the brand name or the topic of your video content.
We suggest using hashtags in the video description. Be careful not to overdo it though, as Google regularly checks for spam and penalizes pages that try to circumvent the algorithms.
Category of videos
With the increase of content channels on YouTube, it can be said that this platform has practically become a search engine. Different channels that have at least more than 30 videos can increase the range of video views by categorizing the content.
By creating different categories, YouTube notices the topic of the content, and by user search or video suggestion after completing a similar content, your video will also be seen. In addition, the content is placed in different categories similar to its topic, and users interested in this topic are encouraged to click on your video.
It may seem that categorizing content is simple, but in fact it is not. Before categorizing or creating content for a specific category, you should ask yourself the following questions:
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of similar competitor videos?
- Do the content of channels similar to yours have better characteristics in terms of video format, design, video length, quality of educational content, etc.?
Understand that you are in a competitive process. Your competition is your previous content and videos published on other channels. If you intend to attract users in this competition, you must provide more quality content.
Using exclusive images for the cover
The discussion of cover images is not less important, if not more than the title of the content. When the user scrolls up and down the list of suggested videos, it is the images and titles that attract them. The best option is to use dedicated images with a size of 1280 x 720 with a ratio of 16:9.
By using exclusive images, all videos are presented to users in a form of quality and shape. This is also inferred as your channel signature.
If custom covers are not enabled for your videos, you must verify your YouTube account by visiting youtube.com/verify.
Using YouTube options to increase channel members
Have you ever seen the circular option with an exclamation point (!) in the middle? How about the text of the offer to join the channel you see in that video?
These are the CTA or Call to Action options that YouTube has pre-set for content channels. These notifications appear at certain times by default on desktop or mobile and prompt the user to follow the channel or watch similar videos from the same channel.
You can choose from the following 5 options for each video:
- Option to introduce the channel or direct the user to another channel
- A card that encourages users to pay to help make more and higher quality videos
- Option to link to video sponsor sites
- User survey option
- The option to link your content with the content of different channels
Playlist for related videos
Try to offer users a collection of related videos with the ability to create a playlist. By doing this, the user will check other videos when he encounters each of them. In addition to users, another way to tell the topic of videos to YouTube is to create a playlist.
Using the ability to pin comments (optional)
One of the ways to communicate with users is to use pinned comments. For example, after publishing the content, you publish a pinned comment yourself. A comment whose content is a challenge or set in such a way as to encourage users to comment.
Required tools for YouTube SEO
Now that we have reviewed the effective solutions for optimizing YouTube content, it is better to know a little about the appropriate tools for this task. There is no better way to learn to work with tools in the field of SEO than practicing and repeating with this tool and referring to the educational resources of the manufacturer. In the following, we will introduce only a few tools and their applications.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a comprehensive SEO platform that allows the user to comprehensively review the product, in terms of content, ranking, traffic growth or decline, and click-through rates for each keyword.
This platform exclusively provides you with suitable keywords for the product.
One of the prominent features of Ahrefs is how to filter keywords and search, which can measure the keywords of different platforms where users are active. With Ahrefs, you can check the monthly search volume of a keyword, the number of clicks received from a specific URL, and the rank of videos on different keywords.
Canva
If you haven’t forgotten the above methods, we said that a dedicated cover for videos works wonders. Canva is a dedicated video cover design platform that allows you to create attractive covers with ready-made templates and a simple structure.
This platform offers you suggested options for different topics and you can choose them to create a suitable video cover for your videos.
vidIQ Vision
vidIQ Vision is a simple and attractive tool that is installed on the Chrome browser as an extension. You can download and install this program by visiting the Google Chrome store. By installing this program, you can see the average time spent watching videos and even the speed of their playback.
TubeBuddy
TubeBuddy is an all-in-one video platform that helps you manage the production, optimization and promotion of YouTube content. Its features include automatic translator, keyword search, tag suggestion, rating of published videos, etc.